Corset



(No Model.)

G. A. WILLIAMSON.

CORSET.

Patented May 19, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

CATHERINE A. IVILLIAMSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CORSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,556, dated May 19, 1896.

Application filed March 1,1395. Serial No. 540,192. (N0 model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CATHERINE A. WIL- LIAMSON, of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Corsets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to guard against the breakageof the ribs of a corset at the waist, and at the same time to prevent the ribs, if broken by long use or by reason of their being of inferior quality, from pro- 3' ectin g through the inner lining or fabric ply of the corset and annoying the wearer.

My invention consists in a corset provided with one or more sections or sheets forming shields of light resilient substance between the ribs and the inner fabric ply of the corset at the waist-line, these sections or sheets being stitched into and made part of the corset and being of such material as not to be punctured by the ribs should they become broken, while at the same time yielding readily to the form of the body and adding to rather than detracting from the symmetrical curvature of the corset.

Figure I is a perspective view of my improved corset, part broken away. Fig. II is a detail Vertical section enlarged. Fig. III is an enlarged detail horizontal section. Fig. IV is a detail side view with part of the outer fabric ply broken away. Fig. V is an enlarged detail horizontal section of the meeting edges of the corset.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the ribs of the corset; 2, the stitching between the ribs; 3, the outer fabric ply; 4, the inner fabric ply, and 5 the steels.

6 represents sections or sheets of thin yielding material placed along the waist-line between the ribs 1 and the inner lining or fabric ply 4 of the corset. These sections or sheets are of such material as will not be punctured by the ribs should they become broken, and I prefer to use thin sheets of phosphor-bronze, though other materials may be used. The rows of stitches 2 pass through these sections, and they are as much a part of the corset as the ribs and steels. I have shown the corset provided with a number of these sections; but the ones most important are those directly over the hips, and my invention can in a measure be carried out by using these and omitting the rest. As shown in Fig. II, these sections add to rather than interfere with symmetrical curvature of the corset and protect the ribs against abrupt bends.

One of the sections 6 at each edge of the corset overlaps and supplements the steel 5 at the edge of the corset, as shown in Fig. V.

I claim as my invention- 1. A corset having the inner and outer fabrics, the stiffeners or bones therebetween,and the series of guard-strips at the waist portion of the corset and between each stiffener or bone and the inner fabric of the corset, each guard-strip being in itself a stiffening plate or section; substantially as specified.

2. The combination of inner and outer covering-plies, the stiffeners between said plies and the herein-described protecting plate consisting of the thin piece of resilient sheet metal interposed between the stiffeners and the inner one of the covering-plies along the waist-line, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. A corset comprising outer and inner fabric plies and intermediate vertical stiffeners, and a series of short, thin resilient sheets incorporated within the body of the corset between the stifieners and the inner ply at and along the waist-line of the corset, and secured in place by the stitches that form the pockets for the vertical stiffeners, substantially as described.

CATHERINE A. IVILLIAMSON. In presence of- STANLEY SroNER,

W. FINLEY. 

